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Sunday, June 18, 2017

It's Father's Day—This one is special for me!

By SJ Otto

It's Father's Day. I'm a father myself, with a son who is
almost 40. He lives in PortlandOregon. I still have my father,
but I won't have him much longer. He has lung cancer and has about six months
to live. He is 91. So today we can celebrate the three generations in my
family. I have no grand kids.

This is likely my father's last Father's Day with me. I hope
to make the best of it. Mao Zedong once said:

"Living is transformed into dying, lifeless matter is transformed
into living beings. I propose that when people over the age of 50 die, a party
should be held to celebrate, for it is in inevitable that men should die- this
is natural law."[1]

I think that is appropriate for my father. My mother died a
day before her 80th birthday. Both my parents have had fine long lives. I'm
sorry to see my dad go, but I'm grateful for the years we have had together.

My Dad and I have had our differences over the years. My Dad
used to be a Republican, a kind of Dwight Eisenhower Republican, so the
far-far-far-far-far to the right Republican Party political trend has turned my
Dad off the Republican Party for now. I have always been more to the left so we
used to argue about politics a lot in my younger days. Now we argue a lot less
and agree a lot more. I'm still farther to the left than my Dad, but that seems
to matter a lot less than it used to. Today my Dad and I have a real good
relationship. I don't remember it ever being better than it is today.

So today, my brother, my Dad and a few other relatives will
get together to Bar-B-Q some meat and sit around the back yard talking about
the good ol' days. My son will probably call me on the phone this afternoon to
say "hi" and "happy Father's Day." From what other men about
my age told me the other day, "getting a phone call from your son or
daughter is about the most you can expect out of Father's Day." And for me
that is just fine. I'm always glad to hear from my son.

My wife, Cam Gentry has already lost her father several
years ago. Cam really looked up to her father,
even though he was a lot more conservative than her. Her Dad landed on OmahaBeach
on D-Day, during World War II. He was one of the lucky survivors. I know my
wife still misses her Dad every year on Father's Day.

Father's Day is one of those little holidays. But this year
I will make the best of it. Next year it may just be me and my son—two
generations, of the men in my family. I do have five living brothers, so for
all of us the Father's Day situation is the same except for the one other son
and the three daughters two of my brothers have. And those two brothers have
grand kids.

So to all of you who have a father, or grand father, or
great grandfather, etc., be sure and make the best of it. It doesn't matter how
long we and our fathers live, it matters most what we do WHILE they are alive.

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SJ Otto

Works at Otto's Book Store, Attended Wichita State University, Lives in Maize, KS. "I’m an author, blog writer and blog editor." This is now a part of a blog collective. We appeal to several different interests, cultural, political and personal.

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